Greece, Luxembourg and Norway announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats in rejection of the invasion of Ukraine

Greece, Norway and Luxembourg announced on Wednesday the expulsion of Russian diplomats, thus adding to the list of countries that have taken this decision due to the invasion in Ukraine.

The Greek Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the dozen officials declared persona non grata belong to both the Russian embassy and consulates in Greece.

The decision has been taken “in accordance with the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Affairs and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs,” the ministry added.

For its part, Norway announced the expulsion of three diplomats and Luxembourg of one.

In recent weeks, several countries have already begun to expel members of the Russian legations, but after images of the massacre attributed to Russian troops in the city of Bucha, north of Kiev, the nations that have decided to take this step have multiplied.

The European Union, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Latvia and Estonia expelled a large number of Russian diplomats on Tuesday amid growing outrage over the conflict in Ukraine, bringing the number returned to Russia by EU allies to nearly 200 in 48 hours.

After the expulsions on Monday by Germany and France, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia also did the same on Tuesday, while the European Union itself declared a group of Russian officials working with EU institutions “personas non gratas”.

The EU decision was taken by the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, who had advanced it this afternoon, although without specifying the number of those affected, in a joint appearance with the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to announce a fifth package of sanctions against Russia for the development of the war in Ukraine.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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